How much is too little?

Ambamm77

How do I know if I have too little calorie consumption? I know I need to feed my body especially on my heavy work out days. I also know what mfp says I should consume daily but with the added exercise I sometimes have a very hard time coming close to what it says I should consume. Typically the days I work out I end up with a large green number.

mallory3411

You should be eating at least your BMR amount of calories. You can find the calculator under the "TOOLS" tab. For some reason MFP automatically gives a lot of people 1,200 calories a day which is too low for most people. If you don't consume your BMR you risk stalling your weight loss and possibly gaining since your body will go into starvation mode and survival mode by holding onto all the calories you consume.

silentnacht

I don't think you have to eat back ALL of your exercise calories every day you work out, though you should definitely be eating back some of them and your net should be 1200 or over. If you are having a difficult time reaching that number invest in some high calorie, high protein and/or good fat after-workout snacks. Protein shakes and natural trail mixes are my favorites. Others would be protein bars, granola, nuts, avacado, etc.

Listen to your body. I know mine lets me know after a high cardio day that it is hungry and needs extra fuel.

Di3012

You should be eating at least your BMR amount of calories. You can find the calculator under the "TOOLS" tab. For some reason MFP automatically gives a lot of people 1,200 calories a day which is too low for most people. If you don't consume your BMR you risk stalling your weight loss and possibly gaining since your body will go into starvation mode and survival mode by holding onto all the calories you consume.

Your BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate meaning it is the number of calories you need to maintain your weight if you are sedentary. Therefore, if you eat all those back, you will not be in a deficit and if you are not in a deficit, how can you shed the pounds?

Pebble321

You should be eating at least your BMR amount of calories. You can find the calculator under the "TOOLS" tab. For some reason MFP automatically gives a lot of people 1,200 calories a day which is too low for most people. If you don't consume your BMR you risk stalling your weight loss and possibly gaining since your body will go into starvation mode and survival mode by holding onto all the calories you consume.

Your BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate meaning it is the number of calories you need to maintain your weight if you are sedentary. Therefore, if you eat all those back, you will not be in a deficit and if you are not in a deficit, how can you shed the pounds?

This is not correct. Your BMR is the number of calories you need to keep your basic body functions going - if you lay in bed all day and didn't move, for example. To get your maintenance calories you have to multiply BMR by and activity factor (based on whether you are sedentary, active etc).
If you are sedentary you multiply BMR x 1.2
So, my BMR is 1410, multiplied by 1.2 my maintenance calories (if I'm sedentary) are 1692. If I do anything more than just drive to work and sit around I need to eat more calories to account for the extra movement/exercise.

To the OP: You need to feed your body well to keep it healthy, especially if you are working out hard. Remember that all the numbers we are working with here are estimates, so try to eat close to MFP's recommendations for a month or so and see how you go. If you are losing weight faster or slower than you expect, then you can change things around. Don't stress if you can't eat every last calorie, but try to get close. If there are just too many calories left at the end of the day, then you might want to check that your food and exercise calories are correct (ie. as close an estimate as possible) and maybe cut back a bit on exercise.

opher

There are many ways to estimate how many calories you should eat to maintain your weight. The simplest one (though not the most accurate) is the following - multiply your weight in lbs by 10, add the calories you burn exercising that day, then subtract 500 or so to lose about 1 lb/week. If you're fairly light, you may need to reduce fewer than 500 calories per day while if you're heavy, you can reduce more than 500 calories per day.

Also, if your burn is huge (e.g. >2000 calories in one day - say from cycling 100 miles or running a marathon) don't try to recover all of it in the same day. You should carb-load the day or two before, eat enough on the day of to not be hungry, and eat a bit more each day on the following couple of days. Finally, try to eat 4-5 smaller meals rather than fewer huge meals - your body will turn excess calories from a huge meal into fat much more readily than if you spit the huge meal into two meals and a snack over 5 hours.

suzy50minus

Very good advice! Thanks that helps me alot.

Ambamm77

Thanks Everyone. All of this is very helpful!!